I hauled out at Denerau. A new marina just south of Leukata Fiji. They refixed my anode, pressure washed cleaned the prop, and polished the topsides. He would have done the varnish if I had had more time there. We enjoyed the two days at Musket Cove but had to clear out for the Blue Water Rally. It is a lovely resort and we had a great meal paid for by the WARC with all the other boats in Dick's restaurant. I had a good massage there to relieve the strain of boat management and filling in inbound and outbound papers in triplicate. We were supposed to start on Saturday but a trough of bad weather came through with thunder and lightening. Half the fleet started after a delay and a change to sailing instructions to allow the fleet to follow a local boat out through the reefs in what was a virtual whiteout. I stayed behind with about 9 others and have left this morning in glorious sunshine and we are romping along between 7-8 kts on a broad reach. She is going at least a knot faster now she has been cleaned.
These conditions were not to last as the wind built up to gale force on the port quarter. The seas were very confused giving a bumpy ride. No one felt like eating so we snacked most of the way. The second night we managed to warm up a couple of cans of sausages and beans and the following night some packet pasta.
We got into Port Resolution at first light yesterday morning after running with bare poles before a force 7 and 8 for 3 days. We were very glad to get in. The highest wind speed recorded was 44.7 kts and the highest speed was 10.1Kts. If I had kept the speed up we would have not quite made it before dusk and so I had to waste 12 hours. This meant that I had to slow the boat down which eventually was down to bare poles and we were still doing 4kts. We met all the villagers and the chief at a reception party with much dancing and exchanging of gifts. They gave us baskets of fruits and handicrafts they had made out of plants. Unfortunately we will have to dump it in the sea when we leave as we cannot take any plants into Australia. They made all the skippers wear funny hats made of palm leaves.
We then had the opening ceremony of a new hut which had been built with money provided by the WARC. Later on in the evening we went back ashore for a pig roast. Taking our own beer and wine. Gerry from South Africa gave me a bottle of Red Label for my birthday. One of the locals saw it and wanted some!
Today we are booked in on a trip up to the volcano which I could see as we approached at night. A fantastic sight of this deep red glow ahead. All for now. Bob and the crew of Andante